Sandwich shop is first Wall Street Lofts tenant

Published 5:47 am, Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Which Wich, pictured above, signed the first lease in Wall Street Lofts' retail space.

Which Wich, pictured above, signed the first lease in Wall Street Lofts' retail space.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

Sandwich shop is first Wall Street Lofts tenant

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Wall Street Lofts developer Roger Gault announced at Tuesday’s Midland City Council meeting that national sandwich shop Which Wich signed the first lease in the new building’s retail space.

Gault described Which Wich as a nationally credited tenant and said that the store would be a great amenity to downtown. Gault said that during the construction of the Lofts, he has had to pass on many potential lessees as he has tried to be very selective in his choice of retailers. He said his first choice for the retail space is food and beverage users.

The Lofts are still estimated to open in mid-November. Gault said that the opening date had been pushed back because Fire Marshal James Howard required that all of the sheet rock and fire detectors be installed before the building could be opened to residents. Howard said a fire in March that destroyed an apartment project under construction in Houston is the reason for the requirements.

The parking garage that is being built adjacent to the apartment complex is also due to open in mid-November. The garage will provide a total of 301 parking spots, with 160 in the top two floors allocated for tenants of the Lofts, and 141 in the bottom two floors for the public.

Gault told the council that he was excited about the project coming to fruition, and that he was in preliminary talks about a second phase of the Lofts. But one issue was made clear during the presentation: Without city support for the parking garage, a project like the Wall Street Lofts would not be possible. The developers told the council that the parking shortage in downtown was a major issue for development.

The Lofts have three more retail spaces left open that it intends to fill. Total retail space on the ground floor of the Lofts totals 10,000 square feet, which is split into four 2,500-square-foot areas.

Gault provided figures for the estimated economic stimulus that will be provided downtown. With 126 total tenants spending at least $75 a week, Gault estimated that over a 30-year period the Lofts will create more than $14.7 million of spending in the downtown area. Project incentives from the Midland Development Corp, the city of Midland and Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone board, according to a previous Reporter-Telegram article, were totaled at $6.2 million.